Presentation for NextLevel April 29,

1
Presentation for NextLevel April 29, 10with
Jonathan Blackmanjb_at_jonathanblackman.com 415
971 0310

• Helping demystify the business website
• What is a Website?
• Content/Design
• Promotion
• Budgeting for a Site
• Your Site An ongoing project.

2
What is a website?

• Know a few things about websites to demystify
  them and to make the best use of them for your
  business.
• A website is a collection of related web pages,
  images, videos or other digital assets that are
  addressed relative to a common Uniform Resource
  Locator (URL), often consisting of only the
  domain name, or the IP address, and the root path
  ('/') in an Internet Protocol-based network. A
  web site is hosted on at least one web server,
  accessible via a network such as the Internet or
  a private local area network.
• A web page is a document, typically written in
  plain text interspersed with formatting
  instructions of Hypertext Markup Language (HTML,
  XHTML). A web page may incorporate elements from
  other websites with suitable markup anchors.
  http//en.wikipedia.org/wiki/HTML_anchorAnchor
• For our purposes a website is a portal through
  which anyone can interact with your business from
  anywhere, anytime. It can serve as a business
  card, contact conduit, point-of-sale, information
  provider, network tool, map/directions to your
  business. It reflects the philosophy, style,
  flavor and mood of your business. It is limited
  only by your imagination not a budget. A website
  evolves with a business and should not be static.
  Because your site is an ongoing, developing
  reflection of your business, then it should be
  refreshed and promoted regularly.

3
Pick a Domain Name

• 1st thing to do is to consider a URL (uniform
  resource location) aka domain name,
  http//www.domain.com. Best URLs are easy to
  remember and spell.
• Company name is a common choice with 2
  considerations it must be available and it
  should be brief. Find available domains here  
• http//www.networksolutions.com/domain-name-regist
  ration/index.jsp
• And you have to decide the extension considering
  whats available.
• .com  .net  .org  .us  .us.com  .biz  .info
   .mobi  .tv  .tel  .me  .name  .de  .eu  .co.uk
   .am  .fm  
• .de.com  .eu.com .uk.com  .pro .bz .cc .gs
   .ru.com .at  .be  .br.com  .ca  .cc  .cn.com
   .cx  .es  
• .gd  .gs  .im .in .co.in  .jpn.com  .kr.com  .la
   .ms .com.mx  .co.nz  .se.com .tc  .tw .com.tw
   .vg  .ws
• Suggestions 
• Register a domain name todayyou do not have to
  pay to host the domain until youre ready.
• Sites are as individual as individuals or
  businesses so the cost to design will vary
  widely. I believe whereas design is important,
  marketing to your audience is typically
  overlooked but as or more important.

4
Content Info is king but not too much.

• There is one aspect of design that I feel is
  vital make the objective of the site obvious
  at-first-glance.
• Why are things always in the last place you look
  for them?
• Because you stop looking when you find them.
  Childrens riddleStudies show you have 0.75
  seconds to capture the attention of the average
  web visitor. Doing so keeps them theregetting
  them return is a constant pursuit.
• Beyond that
• To somegood design good navigation. For others
  its about an aesthetic or a technical wow.
  Bottom line its about getting your audience to
  notice and return and buy and return and buy.
• If you do not have a clear idea of how your site
  should look, start out simple, provide basic,
  standard info, content.
• Company name, what your company does, contact
  info, a bio. Images are important but design is
  not as important as info unless yours is a design
  company. Then you better have an idea how you
  want it to look.
• Tips on design
• What is the competition is doing? Look at their
  sites.
• What resonates? Pick out elements that bling.
• What reflects your business personality? sound
  bites

5
DesignTo inform delight
6
Promotion

• Search engines Advertising Site Links 2Dos
• Meta tags lttitlegt, ltdescriptiongt, ltkeywordsgt
• Search engines spider to rank sites amongst
  others when relevant searches are made.
• This is basic search engine optimization and
  unimportant for you except that you should
  consider the meta tags when you think of
  promoting your business.
• Promotion might be drawing an audience to a site
  for the 1st time or getting them to return (Ron
  Whitneys SF event email) or it might be to get
  them to submit info on the site so you can get
  back to them.
• Suggestions
• check your traffic regularly and notice trends
  and changes. Anything you do to promote should
  be reflected in an upswing in traffic. Therefore
  try things in shifts.
• Come up with a promotion plan-of-action that
  includes a budget, profile of your audience,
  goals and a step-by-step process that reviews
  results. This is a long term process. Take your
  time.

7
Budgeting for a Site

• Website budget should match site development in
  terms of time. A site does not have to be a
  capital expense. Budget should be ongoing over
  time.
• _at_ 70/year to register a domain
• 10-25/month to host the domain on a server
• Design you should maintain control
• Media photography, image editing, video, sound
• Site maintenance content editing
• Promotion (if you want to be found this is where
  your budget should be focused). Spend at least as
  much to promote as you do to maintain.
• Overall minimum cost to maintain a website is _at_
  200/year.
• time commitment to update, freshen and promote
  your site.

8
Conclusion How do I make my website work for my
business?

• Decide why you need a site what is the
  objective? Who do you want to attract to the
  site? What do you expect in return?
• Content/Design must evolve. Consider site
  development as you do cleaning house or
  re-arranging furniture.
• Promotion is a focus over time. Learn how to
  promote your site yourself.
• Budgeting for a site should not be a CapEx.
  Spend a trickle as an ongoing cost.